The virgin will conceive: Immanuel
The Old Testament
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
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In the New Testament
“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
Matthew 1:23
BSB
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Read the full text (2 verses)
King Ahaz receives a sign: a young woman conceives, bears a son and calls him Immanuel, 'God with us'.
This is one of the most discussed texts, so it helps to know the layers. The setting is a threat of war around 735 BC; the sign was meant to reassure Ahaz within a few years (Isaiah 7:16). The Hebrew word almah means 'young woman', in principle one not yet married. The Jewish translators of the Septuagint, centuries before Jesus, chose the Greek parthenos: virgin. Matthew reads the text through that translation and sees in the birth of Jesus the full and literal meaning of 'God with us'. Many interpreters speak of a double fulfilment: a sign then, and a greater sign later.